US Police Officers Sue President Trump Over $1.8 Billion Compensation Fund

Two police officers in Washington, D.C., Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges, have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump's administration over his decision to establish a $1.776 billion fund to compensate victims of alleged 'weaponisation' of the federal government.

In a complaint filed Wednesday, the officers called the fund 'the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century.' They are seeking its dissolution to prevent taxpayer money from being paid to individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

On that day, thousands of Trump supporters stormed Congress in an attempt to block certification of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost.

'If allowed to begin paying out, the Fund will directly finance the violent activities of the rioters, militia members, and their supporters who threatened the plaintiffs' lives that day and continue to do so,' the lawsuit argues.

Both Dunn and Hodges say they were injured in the attack. Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer, has since retired. Hodges, still working for the Metropolitan Police Department, recalled in the lawsuit that he 'nearly was crushed by a mob of rioters' at a Capitol doorway. Another officer heard protesters threatening 'to kill him with his own gun.' The officers say they feared they might not survive the attack.

The lawsuit alleges that Trump has repeatedly signaled his desire to compensate the January 6 rioters, arguing they were treated 'unfairly' by the justice system. The newly created fund, it argues, would allow him to do so with minimal oversight.

On his first day of his second term, Trump issued full pardons for nearly all rioters and commuted the sentences of 14 others.

According to the lawsuit, Dunn and Hodges continue to face violent threats and harassment for defending the Capitol. Compensating their attackers, the two men assert, would encourage further violence.

'The mere existence of this Fund sends a clear and chilling message: those who commit violence in the name of President Trump will face not punishment but reward in the form of wealth,' the lawsuit states.

The 'anti-weaponisation' fund was established as part of a settlement between Trump and the Department of Justice, an agency under his control. Earlier, in January, Trump had sued the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over the leak of his tax returns to the New York Times and ProPublica, seeking $10 billion in damages. Critics have pointed to a conflict of interest in a sitting president suing a tax agency under his own authority.

That lawsuit was resolved in a settlement announced Monday. Under the deal, the Trump administration directed the Justice Department to withdraw $1.776 billion from the Judgment Fund, which is used to settle lawsuits against the government. The money is earmarked as an 'anti-weaponisation' fund, apparently based on Trump's claim that he and his supporters are entitled to compensation for unfair treatment under previous administrations.

The settlement stipulates that the U.S. government 'bears no legal liability' for protecting or securing these funds against fraud. The fund will be managed by five individuals appointed by the attorney general and can be dismissed by the president.

The lawsuit by Dunn and Hodges was filed in D.C. district court and is expected to be one of several legal challenges to the settlement. The officers allege the fund has an 'extraordinary sum' but 'no reasonable basis' based on the strength of Trump's claims. They call the IRS lawsuit 'baseless.'

Finally, Dunn and Hodges express concern that the 'anti-weaponisation' fund amounts to 'public financing of private militia organizations in the United States' if not dissolved in time.